Kelley files bill to create 'Toby's Law'

In this photo from December 2015, Johanna Olsen-Henry holds up the last portrait of her family taken before her brother, Tobias (Toby), and mother, Jean, were killed in a wreck caused by an intoxicated driver in November 2007.
In this photo from December 2015, Johanna Olsen-Henry holds up the last portrait of her family taken before her brother, Tobias (Toby), and mother, Jean, were killed in a wreck caused by an intoxicated driver in November 2007.

For most of the eight years since she lost her mother and brother in a Nov. 4, 2007, drunk-driving accident, Johanna Olsen-Henry frequently has spoken against the idea of people who drink, then drive.

Now her boss - state Rep. Mike Kelley, R-Lamar - has pre-filed a bill to require people convicted of driving under the influence to participate in and pay for a mandatory, court-approved Victim Impact Panel.

Kelley calls his proposal "Toby's Law" - named for Henry's brother, Tobias Olsen, who was 17 when he was killed.

In his news release announcing the proposal, Kelley said Henry, his assistant, was instrumental in helping Kelley understand the importance of making such panels mandatory for DUI offenders.

"The panels are not only a great way to help offenders make better decisions, but also an effective method for victims to heal and share their stories," Kelley said. "I sincerely believe they can play a pivotal role in preventing tragedies like the one suffered by Toby and his family."

The Olsens were driving home after church, headed west on Route C in Russellville, when Larry Welch's eastbound pickup hit the Olsens' vehicle head-on in the westbound lane.

Tobias Olsen and Jean Olsen, 45, were killed, while Henry, then 14, and her father, Eric Olsen, then 41, received serious injuries.

Eric Olsen now lives in the Nashville, Tennessee, area.

Welch, now 63, pleaded guilty in 2008 to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of assault.

He currently is an inmate at Missouri's Northeast Correctional Center, Bowling Green, serving a total of 20 years - two 15-year sentences at the same time for the manslaughter convictions, followed by two five-year sentences at the same time for the assault convictions - as ordered by then Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan in August 2008.

Welch last year won an order from Judge Dan Green reducing his sentences and allowing him to be released from prison, but the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in July unanimously ruled that Green didn't have the authority to reduce the sentences because the crimes involved "violence," and the judge's authority to reduce a sentence only can be used when the crime wasn't a violent one.

Kelley wants DUI offenders to understand better the lasting and long-term effects of driving while impaired, even when there was no accident or injury.

In the news release, he said Victim Impact Panels are "powerful tools to create an additional level of empathy and understanding with offenders that will, hopefully, change their thinking and behavior, and prevent future offenses from occurring."